Bleeder-rod.



w. w. SMITH.

BLEEDER ROD. APPLICATION HLED NOV-2. 19H.

PatentedSept. 24,1918.

WITNESSES p m VENTOR W 1577? I'l /z W v g M I ATTORNEYS WILLIAM WIN'FIELD SMITH, OF SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE.

BLEEDER-ROD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24:, 1918.

Application filed November 2, 1917. Serial No. 199,984.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM WINFIELD SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of South Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bleeder-Rods, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relatesgenerally to air brakes, and particularly to the air brakes of freight cars, being directed especially to the means for bleeding air from the brake cylinder after the freight cars are cut off from the locomotive. The primary object of my invention is to provide a rod for bleeding brake cylinders, of such form and in connection with such means that the rod may be held indefinitely in operative position so as to avoid the necessity of its manual support while the pressure is initially bled from the cylinder, and so as to obviate the danger of an accumulated pressure in the brake cylinder from leaks.

My invention proposes a rod pivotally connected at one end to the vent of the brake cylinder and having an angular handle at its opposite end adjacent the car sill,

to which the rod extends from the brake cylinder, the rod having certain means cooperating with either a portion of the car sill or a member attached thereto, whereby the rod may be held in operative position, that is the position which will maintain the vent of the brake cylinder open, so that it will be simply necessary for the operator to move the rod to operative position and lock the same, to prevent action of the brake until the rod is released.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my invention,

Figure 1 is a view illustrating the practical application of my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of my improved bleeder rod removed.

Referring now to these figures, I have generally indicated a brake cylinder at 10 in Fig. 1, whose release valve 11 is opened by outward upward movement of either of its arms 12. To each of these arms 12, I pivotally connect the inner end of my improved bleeder rod 13, which it will be noted from Fig. 2, is in the form of a flatmetal strip having an opening 14 at one end to provide for the pivotal 'connectlon with the cut away at its lower edge to prevent an in- V .wardly facing shoulder 17 which latter may cooperate with av portion of a car sill, or, with a bracket 18, through an opening of which the outer end of the rod is extended, so as to hold the rod in its outer operative positlon, after movement by the operator thereto, it being obvious that the weight of the rod will lower the shoulder 17 in engagement with the outer face of the bracket when opposite the same.

It 1s furthermore, obvious that by means of the bleeder rod proposed by my inventron, the necessity of manually holding the.

rod in operative position against the tenslon of the usual release valve spring, is avoided during the bleeding ofi of pressure when the valve is initially opened, and that I thus avoid waste of time in this way. It is furthermore, obvious that when moved to operative position and looked as described, my improved bleeder rod will thereafter avoid all danger of accumulation of pressure in the brake cylinder due to leaks, which frequently happens with the result that the brakes become bent and not infrequently the wheels either skid and are flattened, or the brake rigging is ripped'down.

Under the above circumstances, it is fur ther obvious that in saving time and by avoiding the danger noted, my invention provides a bleeder rod capable of highly effective use for the purposes intended.

I claim:

A bleeder rod for the brake cylinder of a railway car having an apertured supporting bracket depending from the base thereof adjacent its side, said rod extending at its" outer end through the said bracket and having a handle beyond the bracket, and said rod being provided with an intermediatecut away portion forming a shoulder for engagement with a portion of the said bracket when the rod is in-outer operative position.

WILLIAM WINFIELD SMITH. WV-itnesses: ANNAIGmPATRIoK PLACE,

MARY L. SMART.

Gopiel of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents;

Washington, D. 0. 

